Hi everyone- I usually post on the UC forum, but figured I'd put this one here also. Is anybody else taking this supplement? I started about 2 weeks ago, & while it initally seemed to make things worse (increased bleeding & gas), I've leveled off & seem to be doing pretty well. Less bm's & blood, at least! I've read one thing by Jini Patel, pretty scary actually, written about 3 years ago, how soil-based organisms can cause health problems down the road. After searching the net & finding nothing, absolutely ZERO info to back up her claim, I'm...... confused??? So for those of you who use this, how do you like it? How long have you been taking it? Any weird health issues since you started? And if anyone has any documented info to back up Jini Patel's claims, please let me know- I may try Natren's stuff, but why bother if the Primal Defense is fine? Do any of you have any more info on the safety of soil-based organisms? I want to take a supplement that has s. boulardii, bifidus strains & lactobacillus strains- preferrably all in one! I can't find one aside from Pirmal Defense Ultra, which also has the SBO's. Thanks! diagnosed with UC '02

jini patel makes her own stuff and thus will stay stuff against anything that is not hers. it is a marketing ploy. going after the HSO's in primal defense is an easy target and has been done by many before that are trying to take down garden of life and at the same time promoting their product or agenda. with that said, i do not think that primal defense is the best brand out there, but it is good imho and i have used it before. the problem with primal defense is that no one knows what the HSO's are. rubin wont release any of the info as that is his secret ingredient, and thus it and he have been the subject of a few court cases. does it work as a probitoic - imho yes. you'll have some people (docs, experts, nutritionists, GI's, etc etc) who say it is great and there is nothing wrong with HSO's and of course there is a camp who are like patel. but with all supplements, none are perfect and some suck, being a total waste of money, while others are good. it is all really anecdotal as like you said, there is no evidence anywhere. people are just suspicious of primal defense cos they dont know what the HSOs are.

a good probiotic will require refrigeration and should have at least 5-8 strains giving you a few hundred billion CFUs per dose.

i hope this helps.Crazy Harry

---------------------------------------------Crohn's since 1993 (17 yrs old then)surgery in July '05 - removal of 2 inches at ileum and 8 inches of sigmoid colon (had fistula into bladder)Nov '05 developed colonic inertia; July '06 told i needed ostomy surgerybegan maker's diet in August '06 - now feeling the best ever with no symptoms of colonic inertia and i kept my colonmed free as of 10/31/07

It does help, thanks! If you read the ingredient list on Primal Defense, it appears that baccillus subtili is the only SBO in the stuff. Which I've been researching for the past 2 days.... from all "scientific" accounts, it seems to be safe enough for human ingestion. I'm definitely open to any suggestions for a good pro-biotic supplement for UC/Crohns- I only really want the pro-biotics- the only supplement I've found also has SBO's in it... well, the only pro-biotic supplement with the strains I'm looking for. The search goes on, & I will stick with Primal Defense in the meantime.

I don't trust Primal Defense because its creator, Jordan Rubin is NOT a real doctor (despite what he claims) nor does he have any experience in treating Crohn's or anything of the sort...

I can't remember which product I took... it was a probiotic.... but... it didn't do any good... It was a big waste of money and very disappointing.

Also... It's been scientifically proven that for a probiotic to have any real effect on the body, it needs to have a certain level of bacteria... and Jordan Rubin's product falls far below that level...I think I am being picked on by life, sometimes. But's that okay. Life and I are good buddies... I know life doesn't mean no harm. It just is the way it is. I can accept that.